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Hi All,I've got a short but sweet little BatRep.It's the Genestealers with the Baron against the awesome might of the White Scars and a Knight!I was a bit worried, as I haven't fought a Knight before with the Stealers and the Baron isn't packing really high-grade anti-tank weaponry.Still, my advantage was the fact that my opponent had gone all in on grav (which my army loves to see as they have at best a 5+ armor save) and I had almost FIVE times the models.Still, if it's kill points, I'm kind of screwed, but if not, it's going to be an interesting cat-and-mouse kind of affair!And as it turned out, it was a rather quick one too...

Captain Tolui Khan looked out at the blasted world and shook his head.

"No, Brother, there is no other option. Our quarry has already started to flee."

With a gesture, a hologram appeared showing a mish-mash of space-faring vessels that started to emerge like fleas from a dying rat, struggling to escape the gravitary pull of the planet. Normally, Tolui would not bother himself with such trivial matters as a simple PDF uprising, but his Brother Librarian spoke of a hidden danger.

"Brother Tolui, it is more than it seems."

Tolui looked across the warplans at the shaved head embossed with psy-dampeners. Brother Librarian Guyuk was oft-times incorrigible, but his future sight was second-to-none.

"The gates of the future open to me, and show a rotting cancer that has its roots in this world."

Tolui paced looking at the scans.

"And the Rogue Trader in orbit?"

"Likely compromised already. If we were the Inquisition..."

"If we were the Inquisition, Brother Guyuk, we would not be here in the first place."

Nodding grimly to himself, Tolui pointed at the marked spot on the scans.

"And you are certain that the head of the snake lies here?"

"As clearly as I can see, Brother. There are powers in the Warp that dwarf even mine at play here. I dare not intrude further lest I make our presence known."

Tolui nodded. A lightning strike then to finish the menace before it could gather strength.

"Ready the men. Let them know that the time of glory is nigh! Let our enemies pray to whatever blasphemous gods they worship, for their day of reckoning is upon them!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Baron, please you have to listen to reason!"

The slight figure of Primaris Psyker Natalia Maximov ran through the broken ruin, chasing after the officer in front of her. She winced again as the headache that had been plaguing her since landing on the planet came again to the fore.

The man in front of her turned, and the full power of authority bore down on Natlalia as the monacled visage of Baron von Oberheim glared at her with the fury of a thousand suns.

"What is it now, woman? It is not enough that I bowed to your pathetic request? They are clearly loyal servants of the Emperor."

Natalia glanced back at the underground room that they had just walked out of.

"But, but... Doesn't it strike you as odd? Everything being performed underground and they... they spoke as if the Emperor was on THIS planet."

The Baron sighed and rolled his eyes, "Clearly, you have not seen enough planets. I've visited backwater worlds where they thought the Emperor lived in little pieces of cracked bread. It is not the way in which they worship, but it is the underlying loyalty behind it. You would think that a Vostroyan would understand that."

Natalia felt her cheeks blush.

"I... I'm just saying that we need to be careful. They..."

"They," continued the Baron, "are a group of simple-minded folk who I find far more reasonable and reliable than you. You could learn a lot from them, Mutant. A simple mind is the best sort of mind. Once we evacuate them from the planet then we will be on our way, and you will have nothing to worry about. I..."

A comm-bead whine interrupted the Baron's tirade.

The somewhat less-sultry voice of Lady Tomoe Saigo came over the comms.

"Baron-chan, Little Psyker, we have company."

The Baron snarled, "Not now, woman. I am in the middle of an important..."

A roar of engines brought the duo's attention skyward as an enormous white Thunderhawk descended from the skies like a meteor. Attached to it was the perched form of an Imperial Knight. The war titan dropped to the ground with a crash, sending a tremor through the region, knocking debris and rubble to the side in a cloud of destruction.

"PRAY TO THE EMPEROR, HERETICS, FOR YOUR TIME IS NIGH!"

Natalia swallowed. Just when things didn't seem like they could get worse...

Setup: The board is setup fairly standard with ruins near the sides and mostly scattered trees lining the center.White Scars setup first and put their bikes across the front line and the Knight behind them. Pod with Libby and Grav Cents go in reserve.I then put the Chimeras in my backfield and then proceed to roll for my Cult Ambush.The Patriarch is the only 6 though, so I put him behind the Knight with the Primus and his Acolytes behind them. I then sprinkle the other two Acolyte squads in forests and then put the Magus in one corner with some Neophytes and the Acolyte Banner in the opposite corner. Metamorphs go in the furthest corner.My opponent is somewhat aghast that now he's the one surrounded!Granted it's by a bunch of guys with popguns and tissue paper armor, but that's besides the point!

The White Scars decide to go first.I... fail to seize. Again.And thus the game is on!

Picture Caption: Did you know that I knew that you didn't know that I knew that you were completely surrounded?!

---------------------Turn 1: White Scars ---------------------

Captain Tolui Khan swore as he heard the skittering sounds in the ruin behind them. It was a trap!

"Baron Karvens, I leave the creatures in the ruin to you. Everyone else, pick your target and ride for glory!"

A familiar whistling sound drew his attention skyward and he smiled in satisfaction as the Drop Pod landed with a satisfying smash, disgorging the Centurions and Brother Guyuk into the fray. The beacon in the center of the camp was the communications hub for the enemy. If taken, then their entire operation would be in disarray. He looked around and saw no challenging cries, no attempts to single out a leader. So, they were cowards indeed...

Let the rats feel what it is like when they try to trap a lion!----------------------------------------------The Drop Pod skitters a bit off course, but lands in about the right place, dividing the Relic from the Chimeras in the corner.My opponent rides forwards aiming for my squads in the corners and also forwards towards the ruin. The Knight turns around with probably not the best intentions for my Patriarch's Genestealers.

The Libby tries to get off invisibility and fails.

The shooting phase has the Knight completely fail to do anything (go 2+ cover save! GSC bonuses are the best.) to the Stealers while the Bikes shoot apart one of the small cultists and sends the other Acolyte squad running.The Centurions also wreck the Vet's Chimera.

Assault has the Knight slamming into the Stealers. The big guy ends up taking down only three or so as his stomps aren't that stellar (bless you 5++ Stealers!), and loses FOUR hull points thanks to counter-assault and the nearby Primus giving me Hatred!

Picture Caption: First Blood to the White Scars! Things are getting rekt!

----------------------Turn 1: Genestealers----------------------

Baron Karvens swore as he swung at the Xenos that stuck to his Knight like lice.They were small, but the creatures had claws like power swords that were slowly slicing him to ribbons.

Why wasn't he warned about things like this?

Then, one of the creatures, the largest one, screamed and glowed brightly with some kind of malevolant energy. It threw itself at the Knight's head and with an otherwordly force smashed through the damaged Knight's helm like a massive bullet.

The enormous machine shuddered and fell as Star Emperor Ra'Oh looked away from the resulting explosion. The machine's pilot had the same basic weakness as all humans:

Movement has all of the non-necessary (i.e. Primus, Acolytes, Metamorphs) squads going Back into the Shadows! (and you know... reserves).Now what to do... I know!

When the going gets tough, bring a LOT of friends.

I get a massive windfall from the Psychic dice this turn, and I get Summoning, Mind Control AND Iron Arm off.

My opponent is taken aback when I summon TWENTY Neophytes next to Centurions (also nicely screening for the Vets) as well as getting Mind Control off on one of the Centurions, who proceeds to nearly shoot a Bike squad to death (Grav is a double-edged sword after all!).I then proceed to have the Baron drop a pie-plate from the Master of Ordinance that lands mostly on-target with a Lascannon on the side. When all is said and done three bikes were taken out. The Chimera also does a few wounds to the last remaining bike from the squad that was ripped up by the Mind Controlled Grav Centurion, which is enough to finish off the squad. The Vets and newly made cultists shoot one Centurion to death with mass lasgun and Mining Lasers/Meltaguns.

Assault has the very speedy Stealers manage to (barely) shave off the last hull points from the Knight, which thankfully falls away from the crowd of Xenos at its feet and explodes in a not-too-terrifying explosion that knocks the large group of Stealers down to about half their original number.

Picture Caption: I HAVE RESERVES.

---------------------Turn 2: White Scars---------------------A massive explosion tore Captain Tolui's attention back to the ruins on his rear flank.The Knight had fallen. And it could not have been at a worse time. A vertiable horde of heretics had burst forth from the very ground, waving guns at them. Although individually unimpressive, Tolui knew that his time was growing short. This was becoming less of a lightning strike and more of a grinding siege.

The latter of which he knew his force could not survive.

"Brothers! To me! We shall have vengeance for our fallen! Brother Guyuk, hold the line! Push these heathens back!"

------------------------------------------------------------

Reeling from the loss of the Knight and the sudden influx of Neophytes, my opponent decides to strike back. Kind of.

The Libby moves up to the new Neophytes as do the last of the regular Bikers.The Captain and his Command Squad do a 180 and head for the Stealers.

Invis goes up on the Centurions.

Shooting has massive holes ripped out the Neophytes, but they refuse to run.

So assault then has the Bikes crash into the Neophytes who again are massively wounded, but still refuse to run.

As an aside, the Command Squad shoot and down a Stealer. They then try to assault and are just millimeters short. (shouldn't have shot the Stealer...)

Picture Caption: It's ok. Neophytes are best bought in bulk anyway.

----------------------Turn 2: Genestealers----------------------

"I've got you now, Xenos scum! Prepare to die!"

Captain Tolui rode high in his saddle, laughing as the Xenos hid amongst the ruble. Then, it seemed as if the earth itself around him was alive as the ground shook and trembled. Dozens of hooded cultists half-shambled out of the hidden tunnels, blades and claws at the ready.

Star Emperor Ra'Oh allowed himself a toothy grin as he saw his Primus take the field. Fear was the tastiest of seasoning. Which was a problem when dealing with Space Marines. Although, he had to admit, when tearing one of the white-clad bikers from its saddle and pushing his oviprobiscus through its face, dispair was close enough.-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ra'Oh decides that it's time to end this and most of the army comes in from reserves.I sadly enough only get 6's on the Primus' squad and a random group of five Acolytes, but hopefully that'll be enough.The Stealers move out of cover and edge up to the bikes. The Acolyte Banner gets close enough to cover most of the action in it's Furious Charge/FNP-lite radius. The Primus also arrives to offer his bonus to the Patriarch as well.

And to add MORE fuel to the fire I get off another big summoning, dropping another 20 Neophytes next to the relic and then get Iron arm off on the Patriarch.

I actually manage to take down a Centurion with wild mass shooting, but that's not the main show as the Stealers and Primus' Acolytes hit the Command Squad both ways.Furious charge and Hatred with a bucket-load of dice leave nothing left of the Bikes.The Acolyte small squad suffers heavy losses, but also cleans up the two bikes.

---------------------Turn 3: White Scars---------------------The Librarian again tries to get Invisibility, perils and dies.The lone Centurion realizing that he is literally outnumbered a hundred to one decides that it's best to just get the heck out of dodge.

And with that the game ends!

Result: Genestealers/IG Victory!

--------------------------------------------------------

Post-Game Thoughts: Wow, this was short and ugly.

New Thoughts:Summoning is just massively OP when it works. I basically got in 40 free models that while they are just somewhat wimpy Guardsmen, that's FORTY FREE models that got in the way and did light shooting. For an army like mine that lives and dies on board control, this was massively helpful and just locked down parts of the table.

Mind Control was also sort of bonkers as the Centurions were their own worst enemy when they almost erased a Bike squad on their own.

The Patriarch did most of the heavy lifting again, with Ra'Oh putting the personal finish on a KNIGHT of all things. However, it becomes clear that the Primus really acts to just up the ante of any of the rending units. I have having difficulty NOT hitting guys with my attacks, which is just where you want them.Now, if I could get Natalia to one day get the re-rolls wounds psychic power, I think we're talking about unstoppable combos.

Oh and as for the IG:The Baron actually killed something this time around! I'm keeping his cover ignoring Lascannon and pie-plate for the moment. Oh, and the Vets also did in one Centurion, so I can't complain about much.

I'm starting to like the army more and more as I write and play, as it's really neat to think about all the different variations that you can work with and you can snowball out of control just with so many models on the table.It's like (gasp) Horde armies are suddenly viable?Hmm... although I have to admit that it's partially that my opponent was so geared to fighting elite armies that he didn't have a flamer to his name.I think his exact comment was something along the lines of "there's just too many of the [expletive] on the board."Anyway, the Stealer hype train lives on!------------------------------------------------------

Baron von Oberheim looked out amongst the rubble and carnage with a feeling of sweet satisfaction. Although masquerading as loyal Astartes did buy the heretics a few moments of surprise, it became quite clear that they were indeed traitorous scum that deserved no mercy. The Psyker was again going on and on about the natives, but that mattered little. Not too surprisingly, Saigo had wrecked her tank again, but the Baron put that up to the fault of her sex. After all, you couldn't hope for much with a woman of her breeding.

Glancing around the debriefing table, he saw the slightly smokey visages of Natalia and Lady Saigo on one side and the native's leader on the other. The Baron hadn't met the leader much, a rather unusual sort of Priest, but every encounter showed the man to be of proper protocol and deference. Even now, he could see that the Priest kept his head bowed in supplication, murmuring prayers to the God-Emperor. How could one have doubts about such piety?

"Baron, are you listening to me?"

The Baron snarled and turned his attention to Natalia, who was red in the face from her unnecessary exuberance.

"Yes, yes," sighed the Baron, "You're worried about the local fauna. I suppose they won't be much of an issue once the planet sunders."

"But, didn't you hear? They want to bring some of them on their crafts! Why? Isn't that suspicious?"

The Baron rolled his eyes, "I'm sure that the Priests have some reason for it. Forgive my inferior's proddings, Priest, but why do you need the creatures?"

Highfather Magnus looked up with a toothy grin, and there was something in the man's eyes that instantly put the Baron's mind at ease. He was reminded of the harsh, but fair trainers at the Scholasta. Real men who would whip you just as soon talk to you. Happy times indeed.

"The Sand-Dwellers are cut from the blood of the Star-Emperor, your grace. We need only a few transports for them. They will be no trouble. Please allow us to bring our culture with us. You, who are so giving, so magnanimous. We seek only your permission for this so small of a gesture."

The Baron nodded and said, "You do realize that this will mean that some of your people will not be able to evacuate."

And with that, the strange robed man bowed and scraped his way out of the officer's tent. Ignoring the sputters of protests from the Psyker, Baron von Oberheim looked out of the flap at the rising sun. Clearly the Imperium had steel left in it yet.

I still can't quite get over the fact that you can have a mob of genestealers and sit them right behind your enemy before turn 1 even starts.

I keep asking myself when the penny will drop and they all become aware of the genestealer infestation but then I realised it'd force you to change your army list so I can't see it happening any time soon. Lady Jenna will be pissed when she finds out though, I'm hoping we get to see something of her in the future even if it's only in the fluff and she's not taking part in the battle itself.

Your opponent was clearly far from optimised, it just goes to show that you can't create a list designed to kill a specific army type and then use it against all comers. Hopefully he will learn a lesson from this.

I still can't quite get over the fact that you can have a mob of genestealers and sit them right behind your enemy before turn 1 even starts.

I keep asking myself when the penny will drop and they all become aware of the genestealer infestation but then I realised it'd force you to change your army list so I can't see it happening any time soon. Lady Jenna will be pissed when she finds out though, I'm hoping we get to see something of her in the future even if it's only in the fluff and she's not taking part in the battle itself.

Your opponent was clearly far from optimised, it just goes to show that you can't create a list designed to kill a specific army type and then use it against all comers. Hopefully he will learn a lesson from this.

Job's a good un!

Hi Cammerz,Thanks for the reply.Fluff-wise, I'm sure Lady Jenna will find out what's going on, but I'm honestly a bit stumped as to how to proceed with the cult. The Magus and Patriarch are kind of dull compared to my other antagonists, and I'm not sure why it's hard to get into their alien boots.If only they had female Cultists that might help give more variety...Wait... are there female Genestealer Cultists/Maguses?

Also, I suppose I shouldn't be worried about the lack of replies. The game was kind of one-sided and I was hesitant to put it up only that it was kind of a stomping. Perhaps I should refrain in the future? I just wanted to put something up as it had been a while since I had made a rep...

Lastly, I've gotten my hands on the new Fall of Cadia book and it's somewhat tempting to run St. Celestine, but I'm not sure if I want to go into using Special Characters for my usual reps.

Best,-BT

P.S. Questions actually are open to all as well, input is greatly appreciated!

I'm pretty sure one of the Ciaphas Cain books features female genestealer cultists, they go for everyone they can in order to secure their foothold on a planet (if I recall correctly they were hiding out in a brothel, the perfect way to get large numbers of Imperial Guard soldiers alone and defenceless). I've got no idea about the higher-ups in a cult but if the official fluff doesn't state it either way then run with whatever you like.

As for the lack of replies, that's likely down to the levels of traffic the site receives nowadays. If anything I'd suggest more content rather than less, see whether we can drag a few people back. I've got a game planned for the near future, I'll see whether I can write it up.

Sometimes when it comes to special characters I'd try to rewrite them to be similar characters, such as changing Knight Commander Pask into my own expert tank commander. But something tells me that might be tricky with someone like the Living Saint, maybe keep her as a background character and focus on the plight of those who fight beside her.

Speaking of counts as special characters, you could even try to do that with the cultists if you're having trouble writing for them. I've been thinking about taking then as some kind of guerilla warfare specialists for my guard.

Also, I suppose I shouldn't be worried about the lack of replies. The game was kind of one-sided and I was hesitant to put it up only that it was kind of a stomping. Perhaps I should refrain in the future? I just wanted to put something up as it had been a while since I had made a rep...

I've had that problem. All my games lately have either been really lopsided or gotten too messy for a report (with players joining partway through and games running out of time on turn two)

I had a long reply typed up, then accidentally deleted half of it, went to try ctrl + z, my brain made me hit ctrl + w instead. I've.... never done that

If you ever write up a bat rep, or want to, post it even if people may not like how the game went. Some of us just enjoy the fluff anyway. That said, as far as how the game went? Yeah, genestealer cults can be disgustingly powerful if you get lucky.

As far as females in genestealer cults go... the answer might be... distasteful. A cult's primary purpose is to have more bodies. Therefore most females in the cult will be eternally pregnant, and too precious to use in a battlefield role. That said, as far as a female magus goes; have you seen the new Dr. Strange movie? I'd certainly picture Tilda Swinton as the kind of weird, ephemeral, mystical force that a magus would be like.

What's the state of anti-air in the current meta? Perhaps Storm Troopers (yeah, I said it) in a Vendetta. The bird gives you even more AT whilst feasibly being more durable than the rest of your army (again, dependent on the current level of AA). If there's a lot of AA then perhaps you should make use of that empty IG Heavy Support slot (the one you could fill with up to three tanks/mobile artillery pieces).

Just don't put a living saint in an army with genestealer cultists, that's heresy.For stories involving her, maybe try it from the point-of-view of a regular trooper or allied IG commander (is Vasily enjoying his retirement?)